Johnson, Cardinals pin down league title
After his performance at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin wrestling tournament, North Central's Adam Johnson is looking forward to this week's Great Lakes Regional and next month's national championships.
Last Saturday, Johnson, a senior, led the Cardinals to their first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title by capturing the championship at 133 pounds for the third straight time.
After the meet, which was held at Augustana, Johnson was named as the CCIW's most outstanding wrestler.
Johnson, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 41-2 record, defeated Elmhurst's Ben Salabura by a technical fall in the championship match.
The Cardinals, who won their first CCCIW crown since 1996-97, finished the meet with 100.5 points to top second-place Elmhurst, which scored 97.
"Winning a national title is definitely my goal," said Johnson. "But I also want our team to place in the top four at nationals. Although I'm ranked No. 1, I still have a lot of work to do. There are aspects of my game that I must develop."
Johnson qualified for nationals the past two years He won two matches in the consolation bracket in 2006, and then last year swept five matches in the consolation bracket for a third-place finish.
North Central coach Kevin Bratland has confidence that Johnson could make this a year to remember at the national level.
"I think he's going to win a national title," Bratland said. "He just needs to go out and wrestle smart and wrestle his match. When he does that, he's unstoppable."
Bratland sees Johnson's competitive nature as the key to his success.
"He's very competitive," Bratland said. "He wants to win so bad. If every kid had his passion, you'd have a team full of All-Americans."
North Central sophomore Gable Youel defended his conference title at 184 and Vinny Sapienza at 197 also won conference championships last weekend.
Ben Youel, last year's conference champ at 165, was upset 6-4 by Elmhurst's Tony Doan in the championship match.
Also taking second for the Cardinals were Joe Norton (Montini) at 125, Jamie Devine at 141, Jake Sandborn at 149 and Greg Schroeder at 174
Elmhurst: The Bluejays finished second at CCIW wrestling meet last week, ending their three-year championship streak.
Elmhurst, which finished 3.5 points behind North Central, had five conference champions.
Besides Doan, Elmhurst had four-nationally grapplers win championships. They were Jeff Kastel (Hinsdale Central, 149), Jake Oster (125), Kyle Katz (157) and Mark Corsello (285).
By winning the final match, Kastel became Elmhurst's all-time winningest wrestler with 114 career victories.
Basketball: Elmhurst junior center Brent Ruch was named the CCIW men's basketball player of the week for helping the Bluejays to a pair of conference wins last week.
Ruch scored 17 points in Elmhurst's 81-79 win over Carthage last Wednesday, and on Saturday, Ruch recorded a double-double, with 15 points and 14 rebounds in a 58-54 win over North Park.
It was Ruch's second player of the week award this season.
Wheaton: The women's swimming team won its 16th overall and 11th consecutive CCIW championship last weekend. The women were led by senior Kaitlin Marko, who won the 500 freestyle in 5:05.15.
In the 1,650 freestyle Marko set a CCIW championship record by finishing in 17:42.02.
Jillian Morris of Wheaton won the 100 backstroke crown, Renee Shear captured the conference title in the 100 breaststroke and Katherine Burt was a champion in the 100 freestyle.
The Thunder men finished in second place in their conference meet.
DuPage: The men's and women's swimming teams both finished second in the Region IV, Division III tournament last weekend. Host Lincoln College was the tourney winner.
"It was an exciting meet for our men, who had to step it up and swim some national qualifying times," said Chaparrals coach Marc Gamble.
The Chaps' national qualifiers were Joe Imgrogno (Glenbard East) in both the 100 and the 200 breaststroke, Robert Augustine in the 200 breaststroke and Alex Bulley (Naperville Central) in the 400 IM.
The Chaps' qualifiers in the women's competition were Katelyn Davis (Downers Grove North) in the 1-meter diving and the 200 breaststroke, Stephanie Yasz (York) in the 3-meter diving and Samantha Brady (Glenbard South) in the 200 freestyle.
Brady finished first in the 200 backstroke and the women's 800 free relay team of Bready, Davis, Marian Cardwell (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Carly Murray also won.